We delve into a topic for which there is very little case law: drug-detecting dog-sniff searches of a person’s body. Case law on canine searches of cars and luggage gives us some guidance, but a current appellate case in New York may help explain what level of suspicion you need to conduct the more personal body-sniffs.
Following the important U.S. Supreme Court decision in N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen in 2022, aspects of the law are being challenged. Read more about this recent one.
In this teaching article, we explore past cases that help guide arson investigations and consider situations that should trigger the seeking of a search warrant. Two cases decided in 2023 also help define some of the finer details of arson investigations.
In this edition of “From the Classroom,” we review several cases and penal codes covering threats to various public or elected officials. Several penal code sections define which positions are covered, and we offer some advice on how to handle these cases in the field.
As our calendars rolled over to 2024, new legislation took effect to update the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and expand the rights of employees to use marijuana off duty. Specifically, AB 2188 and SB 700 added off-duty cannabis users to the list of protected classes under FEHA, but interestingly exempted the building and construction trades. While the legislation provides narrow exceptions to this rule, police officers, deputy sheriffs, firefighters, dispatchers, and other public employees are not exempted, and are now generally afforded statutory protections for off-duty cannabis use.
We look at cross-jurisdictional authority when an officer issues a citation outside his or her jurisdictional limits. The law is specific, and you or the prosecutor need to bring the receipts to court if you want the cite to hold.
We previously discussed past precedents, and now we look at recent case rulings on what is reasonable when detaining someone after a traffic stop. Details matter.
When you detain someone for a traffic infraction, how much time is reasonable – and thus, constitutional – to delay someone while you search for other criminal activity? We review the basics in part one of a two-part series that will help guide your work on the street.
Is this issue headed to the State Supreme Court? We now have a third district court ruling about potential racial stereotyping in the use of products of “creative expression” for prosecution. Courts are split on whether the judicial review granted in the 2023 law should be retroactive to ongoing cases.
If you search a suspect believing he or she is subject to a probation search clause, but it turns out they weren’t, will the evidence be admitted? Were you acting in legal “good faith?” We explore several examples that may help you out in the field.
